FINISHER!!!

After four months of constant training I finally finished my very first MARATHON! It is so nice to be able to finally say that. Rachel and I have had so much fun doing this whole journey together. We decided that we couldn't just run the P.F. Chang's marathon we had to do it in style. So we bought matching shirts and with the help of my awesome sister we decked them out in Rachel and Donnie fashion. Seriously, I think we tripled our fan base with our matching t's...we needed all the encouragement and cheers that we could get.

The night before race day I could not go to sleep. My mind was going crazy thinking about the next day and my anxiety level was really working overtime. With little sleep I was up early Sunday morning so I got ready, ate a little pre-race snack and was out the door by 5:45a so Dave could drop Rachel and I off at the starting line in downtown Phoenix. By the time we were dropped off we had about an hour before go time, so we tried to stay as warm as possible with several bathroom trips (nerves and just to make sure we were good to go) and streching as we awaited the time to get in our assigned corral and begin our crazy run. The countdown began and at 7:40a we were movin and groovin as we made our way down the streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe. There were so many people, which made it that much more fun and exciting. Every mile there was a band playing and all along the way different high school cheer squads were there to motivate and encourage us...so cute and so fun! There were some crazy people out there. In fact, for most of the race we had a guy running next to us that was completely barefoot...no shoes...no socks...no nothing. Just his bare, black feet hitting the asfault...CRAZY!

You know this race really got me thinking (you kind of have a lot of time to do that when running a marathon) about how much love and support went into that big day. I had an awesome friend/running partner who stuck through this whole thing with me and pushed me to be better and stronger than I thought was possible. I have a husband who not only cheered me on during the entire race, but has been cheering me on for the last 4 months. No complaints...just loving support. My dad with his bright yellow shirt (which was awesome because there was no missing him) was there waving his big hands (those same hands that have held me, helped me and loved me for 28 years) and clicking away crazily on his camera as we ran by him. All the fun text messages I received...even if some of them were telling me I was crazy...but AMAZING! It was truly an experience I will never forget and one I will always cherish. I love and am so proud of that medal I got yesterday, which on the back it reads "FINISHER...I ROCKED!" I have crossed off yet another item on my bucket list, but I think it will definitely be one that I will be re-visiting...too much fun not to do again.